Traffic situation display device, method and program thereof and recording medium with the program recorded therein

ABSTRACT

A processor  180  of a navigation device  100  acquires current position information about a current position of a vehicle. The processor  180  then generates current traffic-jam information about a current traffic-jam condition based on VICS data from a VICS receiver  120  or the like. The processor  180  recognizes a direction indicating a point at which a traffic jam is currently occurring relative to the current position based on current position information and current traffic-jam information. The processor  180  displays the recognized direction with a traffic-jam direction icon on a terminal display section  140.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a traffic-condition display device fordisplaying map information on a display unit in accordance with travelof a mobile body, its method, its program, and a recording mediumstoring the program.

BACKGROUND ART

There has been known an in-vehicle navigation device that acquirestraffic information (VICS data) on traffic conditions such as trafficaccidents and traffic jams from a Vehicle Information CommunicationSystem (VICS) and superimposes indications representing the trafficconditions such as the traffic accidents and the traffic jams on mapinformation displayed on a display screen of a display unit to notify auser of the traffic conditions. In many cases, when a traffic jamoccurs, drivers who are avoiding the traffic-jam might cause a secondarytraffic jam on the roads around the original traffic-jam. The trafficcondition notified based on the VICS data represents the currentcondition, and therefore the drivers avoiding the traffic jam based onthe notified current traffic condition might be caught in the secondarytraffic jam. Thus, there is a demand for improved navigation devicesthat can navigate drivers to travel more smoothly.

Meanwhile, as an in-vehicle navigation device, there has been known anarrangement that predicts and notifies current and future trafficconditions with the use of statistical traffic-jam information dataobtained by statistically processing the past traffic-jam information(see, for example, Patent Document 1). The in-vehicle navigation devicedisclosed in Patent document 1 notifies statistical traffic-jaminformation according to time factors such as time and day of the weekbased on the statistical traffic-jam information data by superimposingthe information on map information in various expressions correspondingto traffic-jam conditions. With the notified time and day of the week,users can predict current and possible future traffic jams.

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. Hei9-113290 (right column of page 3 to left column of page 7).

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the Invention

In the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, a traffic-jamdirection mark that indicates a traffic jam is displayed in the vicinityof a road displayed in the map information. Accordingly, the displaybecomes complicated, which might make it difficult for the users torecognize a traffic-jam point.

An object of the present invention is to provide a traffic-conditiondisplay device capable of displaying a traffic condition of a mobilebody, its method, its program, and a recording medium storing theprogram.

Means for Solving the Problems

A traffic-condition display device according to an aspect of the presentinvention, includes: a current position information acquirer foracquiring current position information about a current position of amobile body; a traffic information acquirer for acquiring trafficinformation about a traffic condition; a particular-condition-pointdirection recognizer for recognizing a direction indicating a point in aparticular traffic condition relative to the current position; and adisplay controller for performing control to display the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition relative to thecurrent position on a display unit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, atraffic-condition display method that is performed by a computing unitfor displaying a traffic condition on a display unit includes: acquiringcurrent position information about a current position of a mobile body;acquiring traffic information about a traffic condition; recognizing adirection indicating a point in a particular traffic condition relativeto the current position; and performing control to display the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition relative to thecurrent position on the display unit.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, atraffic-condition display program operates a computing unit as theabove-described traffic-condition display device of the presentinvention.

According to yet another aspect of the present invention, atraffic-condition display program operates a computing unit to executethe above-described traffic-condition display method of the presentinvention.

According to further aspect of the present invention, a recording mediumstores the above-described traffic-condition display program of thepresent invention in a manner readable by a computing unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of anavigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a table structureof display data of map information according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a table structureof matching data of the map information according to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a table structureof data in a traffic-jam prediction table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram schematically showing a table structureof data in a calendar template according to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram schematically showing an arrangement of aprocessor of the navigation device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a traffic-jamcondition display window according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a display window ina traffic-jam simplified display area according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing simplified display processing of atraffic-jam condition according to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a display windowin a traffic-jam simplified display area according to another embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a conceptual diagram showing the example of the displaywindow in the traffic-jam simplified display area according to theanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a traffic-jamcondition display window according to a still another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 13 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the traffic-jamcondition display window according to the still another of the presentinvention;

EXPLANATION OF CODES

-   -   12 i: time-series data as traffic information    -   100: navigation device as traffic-condition display device    -   110: sensor as travel direction recognizer of computing unit    -   120: VICS receiver as traffic information acquirer of computing        unit    -   140: terminal display section as display unit    -   181: current position recognizer as a current position        information acquirer of computing unit    -   182: destination recognizer that can also function as        destination information acquirer    -   184: display controller functioning as        particular-condition-point direction recognizer and        current-position map information acquirer of computing unit, the        particular-condition-point direction recognizer also functioning        as direction selecting signal acquirer and        particular-condition-point map information acquirer    -   187: traffic-jam condition recognizer as traffic information        acquirer that can also function as area-specifying signal        acquirer of computing unit    -   188: route processor that can also function as map information        acquirer and travel route setting section    -   300: display area    -   311: current-position map information    -   3221, 3222, 3223, 3224, 3225, 3226, 3227, 3228: traffic-jam        direction icon as direction data    -   3301, 3302, 3303, 3304: traffic-jam direction display area as        direction data

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below withreference to the attached drawings.

A navigation device of the present embodiment is an example of atraffic-condition display device of the present invention, which isdesigned to navigate a mobile body (e.g. a vehicle) for driving as atravel progress thereof.

It should be noted that the traffic-condition display device of thepresent invention is not necessarily designed to navigate a vehicle forthe driving thereof, but may be so designed to notify a trafficcondition for any type of mobile body. In addition, thetraffic-condition display device may be a portable unit that can becarried by a user.

[Arrangement of Navigation Device]

Referring to FIG. 1, the reference numeral 100 denotes the navigationdevice as the traffic-condition display device. The navigation device100 notifies guidance on a travel along with a travel progress of amobile body (e.g. a vehicle). The mobile body is not limited tovehicles, but includes any type of mobile body such as aircrafts andships. The navigation device 100 may be, for example, an in-vehicle unitinstalled in a vehicle as a mobile body, a portable unit, a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant), a portable phone, a PHS (PersonalHandyphone System) or a portable personal computer. The navigationdevice 100 searches for and displays information about a currentposition and a destination, a route to the destination, predeterminedshops nearby, and information about services offered by the shops basedon map information stored in the navigation device 100. As shown in FIG.1, the navigation device 100 has a sensor 110 (travel directionrecognizer), a VICS (Vehicle Information Communication System) receiver120 (traffic information acquirer), a terminal input section 130, aterminal display section 140 (display unit), a sound output section 150,a storage section 160, a memory 170, a processor 180 and so on.

The sensor 110 detects the travel progress of a mobile body (e.g. avehicle), or the current position and the driving status, and outputs itas a predetermined signal Ssc to the processor 180. The sensor 110typically has a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver (not shown) andvarious sensors such as a speed sensor, an azimuth sensor and anacceleration sensor (each not shown).

The GPS receiver receives electric navigation waves output from a GPSsatellite (not shown), which is an artificial satellite, via a GPSantenna (not shown). Then, the GPS receiver computes simulatedcoordinate values of the current position based on a signalcorresponding to the received electric navigation waves and outputs thesimulated coordinate values as GPS data to the processor 180.

The speed sensor of the sensor 110 is arranged on the mobile body (e.g.a vehicle) so as to detect driving speed and actual acceleration of thevehicle based on a signal that varies depending on driving speed of thevehicle. The speed sensor reads a pulse signal, a voltage value and thelike output in response to the revolution of axles and wheels of thevehicle. Then, the speed sensor outputs speed detection information suchas the read pulse signal and voltage value to the processor 180. Theazimuth sensor is arranged on the vehicle and provided with a so-calledgyro-sensor (not shown) so as to detect the azimuth of the vehicle,i.e., a driving direction for which the vehicle is heading. The azimuthsensor outputs driving direction information about the detected drivingdirection to the processor 180. The acceleration sensor is arranged onthe vehicle so as to detect the acceleration of the vehicle in thedriving direction thereof. The acceleration sensor converts the detectedacceleration into a sensor output value, which is for instance the pulseand the voltage, and then outputs the sensor output value to theprocessor 180.

The VICS receiver 120 has a VICS antenna (not shown) and acquiresinformation about the traffic via the VICS antenna. More specifically,the VICS receiver 120 acquires VICS data (traffic information) abouttraffic jams, traffic accidents, constructions, traffic controls and soon from the VICS (not shown) by way of a beacon, FM multiplexbroadcasting or the like. The acquired information about traffic isoutput as a predetermined signal Svi to the processor 180.

The VICS data is structured in a table typically containing a pluralityof following conceptual items formed as a single data structure.

-   -   traffic-jam level: traffic-jammed, crowded, smooth, etc.    -   top position information of traffic jam    -   length information of traffic jam    -   link travel time information: travel time required for a vehicle        to pass through a VICS link (distance between intersections)    -   zone travel time information: travel time required for a vehicle        to pass through a zone longer than a VICS link    -   information about traffic controls, causes thereof, controlled        areas    -   information about availability of parking areas    -   information about service areas and parking areas    -   other information

The terminal input section 130, which may be a keyboard, a mouse or thelike, has various operation buttons and operation knobs (each not shown)to be used for input operations. The operation buttons and the operationknobs are used to input, for example, the settings for the operations ofthe navigation device 100. More specifically, the operation buttons andthe operation knobs may be used: to set content of information to beacquired and acquiring criteria; to set a destination; to retrieveinformation; to set for display of the driving status (travel progress)of the vehicle; and to set for switching display. When the settings areinput, the terminal input section 130 outputs a predetermined signal Sinto the processor 180 so as to apply the settings. In place of the inputoperation using the operation buttons and the operation knobs, theterminal input section 130 may employ input operation using a touchpanel arranged on the terminal display section 140, sound inputoperation and the like for inputting various settings.

The terminal display section 140, under the control of the processor180, displays a signal Sdp representing image data sent from theprocessor 180. Examples of the image data may include image datarepresenting map information and retrieval information, TV image datareceived by a TV receiver, image data stored in an external device orrecording medium such as an optical disc, a magnetic disc or a memorycard and read by a drive or a driver, and image data in the memory 170.The terminal display section 140 may typically be a liquid-crystaldisplay panel, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) panel, a PDP (PlasmaDisplay Panel), a CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube), an FED (Field EmissionDisplay), or an electrophoretic display panel.

The sound output section 150 has an audio section such as a speaker (notshown). The sound output section 150, under the control of the processor180, outputs various signals Sad as sounds from the audio section. Thevarious signals Sad represent sound data etc. sent from the processor180. Information output as sounds, which may be the driving directionand the driving status of the vehicle and traffic condition, arenotified to occupants such as a driver of the vehicle for navigating thevehicle. The audio section may output TV sound data received by a TVreceiver (not shown) and sound data stored in a recording medium or thememory 170. In place of the audio section provided to the sound outputsection 150, the sound output section 150 may use an audio sectionequipped on the vehicle.

The storage section 160 readably stores map information as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3 and a traffic-jam prediction table 10 as shown in FIG. 4.Although not shown, the storage section 160 includes a map informationstorage area for storing the map information, a traffic-jam predictiontable storage area for storing the traffic-jam prediction table 10 andthe like. While the storage section 160 has the above-described twostorage areas in the above description, the storage section 160 may nothave any of the above-described storage areas, or may have additionalstorage areas. The storage section 160 may include drives or drivers forreadably storing data on a recording medium such as a HD (Hard Disk), aDVD (Digital Versatile Disc), an optical disc and a memory card.

The map information includes display data VM, which is so-called POI(Point Of Interest) data as shown in FIG. 2, matching data MM as shownin FIG. 3, route-search map data and the like.

The display data VM includes, for example, plural pieces of display meshinformation VMx, each having a unique number. To be more specific, thedisplay data VM is divided into the plural pieces of display meshinformation VMx, each relating to an area. The display data VM isconstituted from the plural pieces of display mesh information VMxcontinuously arranged in a matrix form. The display mesh information VMxmay be further divided into plural pieces of display mesh informationVMx to be contained in a lower layer, each relating to a smaller area.Each display mesh information VMx has a rectangular shape with each sidethereof having a predetermined length, which is reduced relative to theactual geographic length according to the map scale. A predeterminedcorner thereof contains absolute coordinates ZP in the whole mapinformation, e.g., a global map.

The display mesh information VMx is, for instance, constituted from nameinformation VMxA such as intersection names, road information VMxB andbackground information VMxC. The name information VMxA is datastructured in a table for arranging and displaying miscellaneous elementdata (e.g. intersection name, town name) contained in an area at apredetermined position with reference to a positional relationship basedon the absolute coordinates ZP. The road information VMxB is datastructured in a table for arranging and displaying road element data(e.g. road) contained in an area at a predetermined position withreference to a positional relationship based on the absolute coordinatesZP. The background information VMxC is data structured in a table forarranging and displaying miscellaneous element data (e.g. mark and imageinformation representing famous spots and buildings) at a predeterminedposition with reference to a positional relationship based on theabsolute coordinates ZP.

The matching data MM, just like the display data VM, is divided intoplural pieces of matching mesh information MMx, each having a uniquenumber and relating to an area. The matching data MM is constituted fromthe plural pieces of matching mesh information MMx continuously arrangedin a matrix form. The matching mesh information MMx may be furtherdivided into plural pieces of matching mesh information MMx to becontained in a lower layer, each relating to a smaller area. Eachmatching mesh information MMx has a rectangular shape with each sidethereof having a predetermined length, which is reduced relative to theactual geographic length according to the map scale. A predeterminedcorner thereof contains absolute coordinates ZP in the whole mapinformation, e.g., a global map. The matching mesh information MMx andthe display mesh information VMx may not necessarily represent the samearea. That is, they may be divided according to different scales. If thesame scale is used, unique number information may be used forassociating the data. If a different scale is used, the absolutecoordinates may be used for associating the data.

The matching data MM is used for map matching processing for correctingthe displayed information to locate a mark representing the vehicle on aroad, when the travel progress of the vehicle is superposed on the mapinformation. This processing prevents such errors in which the markrepresenting the vehicle is displayed on a building instead of the road.The matching data MM has plural pieces of link string block information.

As shown in FIG. 3, the link string block information is a datastructured in a table so that a plurality of links L are mutuallyassociated according to a predetermined rule. The link L as segmentinformation represents a road and connects nodes N as the pointinformation. Specifically, the links L each corresponding to apredetermined length of a road are mutually connected to form polygonallines (i.e. link strings), which represent continuous roads such asKoshu street and Ome street. Each link L has segment-specificinformation (hereafter referred to as a link ID) as a unique numberassigned to each link L, and node information as a unique numberindicating two nodes N connected by the link L. Each link L isassociated with a VICS link to match the positional relationship betweenthe VICS data and the displayed map.

Each node N represents a joint point such as an intersection, a corner,a fork, a junction or the like of each road. Information about the nodeN has point-specific information as a unique number assigned to eachnode N in the link string block information, coordinate information ofthe position where each node N is located, and flag information asbranching information describing whether or not the node N represents abranching position (e.g. intersection, fork) where a plurality of linksare crossed. Some nodes N only have the point-specific information andthe coordinate information without the flag information for simplyrepresenting the shape of a road, and some nodes N additionally haveattribute information representing the road structure such as width of atunnel or a road. The nodes N without the flag information for simplyrepresenting the road shapes are not used when a coordinate matchingsection 186 (which will be described later) identifies a point.

The route-search map information is structured in a table, which issimilar to that of the matching data MM, including point information forrepresenting points such as the nodes N for representing roads, andsegment information for connecting points such as the links L. Theinformation is so structured to represent roads for searching for atravel route.

The traffic-jam prediction table 10, which includes statistical trafficinformation obtained by statistically processing the past trafficconditions based on time factors, is a data group for showing trafficconditions in the past at an arbitrary spot. The traffic-jam predictiontable 10 is used to predict a traffic-jam condition at route searchprocessing and at processing for displaying a map. As shown in FIG. 4,the traffic-jam prediction table 10 is structured in a table storing aplurality of records, each single record containing adate-classification ID (identification) 11, time-series data 12 i (irepresenting a natural number) as traffic information and the like.

The date-classification ID 11 is typically an ID number representing aclassification of date and day of the week. In the followingdescription, classification of date and day of the week will be referredto as date classification. For example, “ID1” may indicate any “workday”such as Monday to Friday excluding legal holidays; “ID2” may indicate“Saturday” excluding legal holidays; “ID4” may indicate “special day 1”such as a festival day of City A; “ID5” may indicate “special day 2”such as a day when a sports meeting is held at Athletic Ground B; “ID7”may indicate “the day before a long holiday” such as the day before fourconsecutive holidays; and “ID 11” may indicate “the day before the endof a long holiday” such as the third day of four consecutive holidays.The date-classification ID 11 is not limited to the ID number, but maybe text data directly related to a day such as “workday”.

The time-series data 12 i is data on tendency of the traffic-jamcondition of the traffic condition. For example, VICS data may beacquired from the VICS and stored for each VICS link, and thenstatistically processed for every 10 minutes based on the time factor ofthe stored VICS link (i.e. date classification) so as to be used as thetime-series data 12 i. In other words, the time-series data 12 i is datarepresenting the traffic-jam condition at desired spots (which might beeach VICS link) for every predetermined time, such as the length of thetraffic jam, the traffic-jam condition representing the traffic-jamlevel and the time required for passing through the traffic jam. Whilethe time-series data 12 i described above is data generated bystatistically processing the data for each spot based on the timefactor, it may alternatively be generated for each facility, shop, area,city and town, or road.

The storage section 160 typically stores the retrieval information foracquiring information of a predetermined point in the map information.More specifically, the retrieval information includes variousinformation about content and guidance such as names of states, citiesand towns, regions and points, which are units used to gradually dividethe map information into smaller areas, as well as various informationabout shops as points. The retrieval information is structured in a treestructure table so that plural pieces of item information arehierarchically associated with each other.

The memory 170 readably stores the settings that are input by theterminal input section 130, music data and image data as well as aplurality of calendar templates 20 as shown in FIG. 5. The memory 170also stores various programs that run on the OS (Operating System)controlling the whole operation of the navigation device 100. The memory170 may preferably be a CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)memory that retains the stored data even in the case of, for instance, asudden power interruption caused by a blackout. The memory 170 mayinclude drives or drivers for readably storing data on a recordingmedium such as a HD, a DVD, and an optical disc.

The calendar template 20 is a template representing a dateclassification of each date. More specifically, the calendar template 20has a table structure storing plural pieces of table data for everymonth, typically twelve pieces of table data. The respective table datahave a plurality of records, each containing date information aboutdate, classification ID numbers associated with respective dates of thedate information.

The classification ID number is identical to one of thedate-classification IDs 11 in the traffic-jam prediction table 10 andindicates the date classification of the date specified by the dateinformation. For example, Friday 5th is classified as “workday”associated with “ID1”, and Monday 15th is classified as “legal holiday”associated with “ID3”. The classification ID number of the calendartemplate 20 can be changed by the processor 180 if necessary. Theclassification ID number is not limited to numerical values, but mayalternatively be text data (e.g. “workday”) corresponding to thedate-classification ID in the traffic-jam prediction table 10.

The processor 180 has various input/output ports (not shown) including aVICS receiving port connected to a VICS antenna, a GPS receiving portconnected to a GPS receiver, sensor ports respectively connected tovarious sensors, a key input port connected to the terminal inputsection 130, a display control port connected to the terminal displaysection 140, a sound control port connected to the sound output section150, a storage port connected to the storage section 160 and a memoryport connected to the memory 170. As shown in FIG. 6, the processor 180has various programs such as a current-position recognizer 181 as acurrent position information acquirer, a destination recognizer 182, aguidance notifier 183, a display controller 184 that also functions as aparticular-condition-point direction recognizer and a current-positionmap information acquirer, a map matching section 185, the coordinatematching section 186, a traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 as atraffic information acquirer that also functions as an area-specifyingsignal acquirer, a route processor 188, an information retriever 189, acalendar modifier 190, a timer 191 and so on. The sensor 110, the VICSreceiver 120, the current-position recognizer 181, the displaycontroller 184 and the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 form acomputing unit of the present invention. Note that the computing unit ofthe present invention may not include any one of the sensor 110, theVICS receiver 120 and the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187.

The current-position recognizer 181 recognizes the current position ofthe vehicle. More specifically, the current-position recognizer 181calculates a plurality of current simulated positions of the vehicle onthe basis of the speed data and the azimuth data of the vehicle outputrespectively from the speed sensor and the azimuth sensor of the sensor110. The current-position recognizer 181 further recognizes the currentsimulated coordinate values of the vehicle based on the GPS data on thecurrent position output from the GPS receiver. Then, thecurrent-position recognizer 181 compares the calculated currentsimulated positions with the recognized current simulated coordinatevalues, and calculates the current position of the vehicle on mapinformation separately acquired so as to recognize the current position.

The current-position recognizer 181 determines a slope angle and analtitude of a road to drive based on the acceleration data output fromthe acceleration sensor and calculates the current simulated position ofthe vehicle so as to recognize the current position. Thus, the currentposition of the vehicle can be accurately recognized even if the vehicleis on an intersection with an overpass or on an elevated highway whereroads are overlaid in a two-dimensional view. Furthermore, when thevehicle runs on a mountain road or a slope, the current-positionrecognizer 181 corrects the discrepancy between the travel distanceobtained based only on the speed data and the azimuth data and theactual travel distance by using the detected slope angle of the road toaccurately recognize the current position.

The current-position recognizer 181 can recognize not only the currentposition of the vehicle as described above but also a departure point,i.e. an initial point set by the terminal input section 130 as thecurrent simulated position. Current position information acquired by thecurrent-position recognizer 181 is appropriately stored in the memory170.

The destination recognizer 182 typically acquires the destinationinformation about the destination set by the input operation at theterminal input section 130 and recognizes the position of thedestination. The destination information to be set includes variousinformation for identifying a spot, which might be coordinates such aslatitude and longitude, addresses, telephone numbers and the like. Suchdestination information recognized by the destination recognizer 182 isappropriately stored in the memory 170.

The guidance notifier 183 notifies guidance stored in the memory 170 byan image display using the terminal display section 140 or by soundusing the sound output section 150 based on travel route information andfeature guidance information acquired in advance according to thedriving status. The guidance is related to the travel of the vehicle,which may be content for assisting the drive of the vehicle.Specifically, a predetermined arrow or a symbol may be displayed in adisplay window of the terminal display section 140, or guidance such as“Turn right in 700 meters at intersection OOO toward ΔΔΔ”, “You havedeviated from the travel route” and “Traffic-jam ahead” is output in theaudio form from the sound output section 150.

The display controller 184 appropriately controls the terminal displaysection 140 to display the various information thereon in order tonotify the user of the various information. The display controller 184also controls display of various display windows for prompting the userto operate the terminal input section 130 so as to set variousinformation. The display controller 184 performs a control fordisplaying a map near the vehicle or information about the traffic-jamcondition in a display area 300 of the terminal display section 140 ashown in FIG. 7 in response to a predetermined input operation at theterminal input section 130 or the various signals.

Here, the display area 300 has a substantially rectangular shape. Thedisplay area 300 includes a map information display area 310 and atraffic-jam simplified display area 320. Although the display area 300including the above-described display areas 310, 320 is exemplified, thearrangement is not limited thereto.

The map information display area 310 substantially entirely occupies thedisplay area 300. The map information display area 310 displayscurrent-position map information 311 about an area near the currentposition. A vehicle icon 312 is displayed in a superposing manner at aposition corresponding to the current position of the vehicle in thecurrent-position map information 311. The vehicle icon 312 has, forinstance, a substantially isosceles triangle form, an apex of theisosceles triangle indicating a driving direction of the vehicle.

The traffic-jam simplified display area 320 is provided on an upperright portion of the display area 300. A vehicle icon 321 is displayedsubstantially at the center of the traffic-jam simplified display area320, the vehicle icon 321 indicating the driving direction of thevehicle. The vehicle icon 321 is displayed in an expression that allowsthe user to recognize the driving direction of the vehicle, specificallyby displaying a steering wheel or a windshield. For example, the displayof the vehicle icon 321 shown in FIG. 7 indicates that the drivingdirection of the vehicle is upward in the traffic-jam simplified displayarea 320. Note that text data such as “Traveling direction is upward inscreen” may be displayed instead of the vehicle icon 321. Traffic-jamdirection icons 322 n (n representing 1 to 9) as direction data aredisplayed around the vehicle icon 321 in the traffic-jam simplifieddisplay area 320. Traffic-jam direction icons 3221, 3222, 3223, 3224,3225, 3226, 3227, 3228 have arrow marks respectively indicating theupper side, the upper right side, the right side, the lower right side,the lower side, the lower left side, the left side and the upper leftside in FIG. 7. The traffic-jam direction icons 3221, 3222, 3223, 3224,3225, 3226, 3227, 3228 are displayed respectively on the upper side, theupper right side, the right side, the lower right side, the lower side,the lower left side, the left side and the upper left side of thevehicle icon 321 in FIG. 7. That is to say, traffic-jam direction icons3221, 3222, 3223, 3224, 3225, 3226, 3227, 3228 are displayed in a mannercorresponding respectively to the forward side, the diagonally forwardright side, the rightward side, the diagonally backward right side, thebackward side, the diagonally backward left side, the leftward side andthe diagonally forward left side in the driving direction of thevehicle. The traffic-jam direction icons may have text data such as“forward” and “backward” instead of the arrow mark.

The display controller 184 sets the expressions of the traffic-jamdirection icons 322 n in accordance with the traffic-jam condition.Specifically, the display controller 184 acquires the driving directioninformation, the current position information, traffic-jam-conditionrecognition region information and at least one of later-describedcurrent traffic-jam information and predicted traffic-jam information.Further, the display controller 184 retrieves and acquires from thestorage section 160 map information of an area containing atraffic-jam-condition recognition region based on the current positioninformation and the traffic-jam-condition recognition regioninformation. Then, based on the acquired various information, whenrecognizing that a traffic jam is currently occurring at, for instance,a point corresponding to the forward side in the driving direction, thedisplay controller 184 sets the expression of the traffic-jam directionicon 3221 to a current traffic-jam expression as shown in FIG. 8. Thecurrent traffic-jam expression may be so arranged as to display thebackground of the arrow mark in red, but the arrangement is not limitedthereto.

When recognizing that a traffic jam is predicted to occur at, forinstance, a point corresponding to the rightward side in the drivingdirection, the display controller 184 sets the expression of thetraffic-jam direction icon 3223 to a predicted traffic-jam expression asshown in FIG. 8. The predicted traffic-jam expression may be so arrangedas to display the background of the arrow mark in yellow, but thearrangement is not limited thereto. When recognizing that a traffic jamis currently occurring and the traffic jam is predicted to continue at,for instance, a point corresponding to the diagonally backward left sidein the driving direction, the display controller 184 sets the expressionof the traffic-jam direction icon 3226 to a continuous traffic-jamexpression as shown in FIG. 8. The continuous traffic-jam expression maybe so arranged as to display the background of the arrow mark in orange,but the arrangement is not limited thereto. When recognizing that atraffic jam is not currently occurring and is not predicted to occur at,for instance, points corresponding to the diagonally forward right side,the diagonally backward right side, backward side, leftward side anddiagonally forward left side in the driving direction, the displaycontroller 184 sets the expressions of the traffic-jam direction icons3222, 3224, 3225, 3227, 3228 to a non traffic-jam expression as shown inFIG. 8. The non traffic-jam expression may be so arranged as to displaythe background of the arrow mark in white, but the arrangement is notlimited thereto. In a case where the display controller 184 can acquireonly one of the current traffic-jam information and the predictedtraffic-jam information, when recognizing that a traffic jam is notcurrently occurring or is not predicted to occur at, for instance, apoint corresponding to the leftward side in the driving direction basedon the driving direction information and the one of the currenttraffic-jam information and the predicted traffic-jam information, thedisplay controller 184 sets the expression of the traffic-jam directionicon 3227 to the non traffic-jam expression.

Note that although display colors are employed as the expression, thearrangement is not limited thereto. For example, a blinking speed may beemployed as the expression. In addition, other arrangements mayappropriately employed such as an arrangement in which only thetraffic-jam direction icons 3221, 3223, 3225, 3227 corresponding to theforward side, rightward side, backward side and leftward side in thedriving direction are displayed.

The map matching section 185 performs the map matching processing fordisplaying the current position recognized by the current-positionrecognizer 181 based on the map information obtained from the storagesection 160. As described earlier, the map matching section 185typically uses the matching data MM for performing the map matchingprocessing to modify or correct the current position information toprevent the current position superimposed on the map on the terminaldisplay section 140 from being located off the road in the map on theterminal display section 140.

The coordinate matching section 186 performs the coordinate matchingprocessing for determining whether or not point information about nodesN contained in the matching data MM of the map information acquired fromthe storage section 160 indicate an identical point. In other words, asdescribed earlier, the coordinate matching section 186 acquires pointinformation of nodes N contained in the matching data MM and reads thecoordinate information of the point information. More specifically, thecoordinate matching section 186 calculates the coordinate values such asthe latitude and the longitude based on the coordinate values of thecoordinate information and the offset amount. If different nodes N haveidentical coordinate values, it reads the flag information of the pointinformation of the nodes N to determine whether the nodes N representthe identical point. If the coordinate matching section 186 determinesthat the nodes N are identical, it recognizes a road arrangement inwhich the links L respectively connected to the nodes N and contained inthe different link string block information are crossed with each other,and thus considers as, for example, an intersection. If, on the otherhand, the coordinate matching section 186 determines that the nodes Nare not identical, it recognizes that the links L respectively connectedto the nodes N and contained in the different link string blockinformation are not crossed with each other, and thus considers as, forexample, a multi-level intersection.

The traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 generates current traffic-jaminformation about the traffic jam that is currently occurring.Specifically, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 acquires thetraffic-jam-condition recognition region information as anarea-specifying signal that is set by the input operation at theterminal input section 130. Then, the traffic-jam condition recognizer187 recognizes, based on the traffic-jam-condition recognition regioninformation, that a region of which the traffic-jam condition is to berecognized (hereinafter referred to as a traffic-jam-conditionrecognition region) is, for instance, a region located in predetermineddistance from the current position. Here, the traffic-jam-conditionrecognition region may be, for instance, a region in which the vehiclecan travel in a predetermine time from the current position. Thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 acquires the current positioninformation. The traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 also acquires theVICS data from the VICS output from the VICS receiver 120. Then, thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 generates current traffic-jaminformation about the traffic-jam condition as a current trafficcondition that occurs in the traffic-jam condition recognition regionbased on the acquired various information.

The traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 also generates predictedtraffic-jam information about the predicted traffic-jam condition thatis predicted to occur at an arbitrary spot in the traffic-jam conditionrecognition region. Specifically, the traffic-jam condition recognizer187 recognizes the classification ID number of the date for whichtraffic-jam prediction will be performed on the basis of the timeinformation acquired from the timer 191 and the calendar template 20.Then, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 retrieves and acquiresthe time-series data 12 i corresponding to the recognized classificationID number and relating to an area containing traffic-jam conditionrecognition region from the traffic-jam prediction table 10. Thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 generates the predicted traffic-jaminformation about the predicted traffic-jam condition in the traffic-jamcondition recognition region based on the acquired time-series data 12 iand a current time acquired from the timer 191. The current traffic-jaminformation and the predicted traffic-jam information generated by thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 and the acquiredtraffic-jam-condition recognition region information are stored in thememory 170.

The route processor 188 searches for a travel route by computing thedriving route of the vehicle based on the setting information that isset by the user for setting the route as well as the map informationstored in the storage section 160. The route processor 188 can computethe travel route by taking the current traffic-jam information and thepredicted traffic-jam information generated by the traffic-jam conditionrecognizer 187 into consideration when the processor 180 recognizestraffic-jam prediction request information requesting a travel routesearch with the traffic-jam information and the traffic-jam predictionconsidered.

More specifically, if the setting information does not contain thetraffic-jam prediction request information, the route processor 188acquires the current position information, the destination information,the setting information and the current traffic-jam information. Then,based on the acquired information, the route processor 188 searches foravailable roads, where for example traffic is allowed, using theroute-search map information of the map information, and generatestravel route information for setting a route with a shorter requiredtime, a route with a shorter distance, or a route without traffic jamand traffic controls.

If, on the other hand, the setting information contains the traffic-jamprediction request information, the route processor 188 acquires thecurrent position information, the destination information, the settinginformation and the current traffic-jam information. Then, based on theacquired information, it generates candidate travel route informationfor setting a plurality of candidate routes including a candidate routewith shorter travel time, with shorter travel distance, or a candidateroute without traffic jams and traffic controls. The route processor 188acquires the predicted traffic-jam information and reduces the number ofthe candidate routes contained in the candidate travel route informationbased on the predicted traffic-jam information, and thereby generatestravel route information for setting a route etc. The travel routeinformation generated by the route processor 188 is appropriately storedin the memory 170.

In searching for the travel route, the route processor 188 may use thematching data MM of the map information in addition to the route-searchmap information. This applies to, for instance, a case where the routeprocessor 188 searches for the travel route including a narrow road suchas a back street which is not contained in the route-search mapinformation. When the matching data MM is used, the route isappropriately searched for according to the road arrangement recognizedby the coordinate matching section 186. The travel route informationtypically includes route guidance information for navigating the vehicleduring the drive thereof for assisting the drive. Under the control ofthe guidance notifier 183, the route guidance information may beappropriately displayed on the terminal display section 140 or output assounds from the sound output section 150 to assist the drive.

The information retriever 189 hierarchically retrieves and acquires theretrieval information, such as shops and facilities, stored in thestorage section 160 on the basis of the item information in response to,for example, a retrieval request for the retrieval information set atthe terminal input section 130.

The calendar modifier 190 appropriately updates the calendar template 20stored in the memory 170 on the basis of modifications set by the user.More specifically, the calendar modifier 190 recognizes variousinformation set by the input operations of the user at the terminalinput section 130. The various information may include date informationfor specifying date and event information about events such as festivalsand sports meeting. Then, the calendar modifier 190 recognizes the datespecified by the date information, and also recognizes theclassification ID number associated with the event information.

For example, the date classification is determined based on the setevent information, and the classification ID number is recognized basedon the determined date classification. If, for example, the eventinformation relates to a sports meeting to be held at Stadium B, thedate classification is determined as “special day 2”, and theclassification ID number is recognized as “ID5” based on the “specialday 2”. Then, the calendar modifier 190 appropriately modifies thecalendar template 20 on the basis of the recognized date and theclassification ID number.

The timer 191 recognizes the current time typically based on the pulseof an internal clock. The timer 191 senses elapsed time from apredetermine time. Then, the timer 191 appropriately outputs timeinformation about the recognized current time.

[Operation of Navigation Device]

Now, simplified display processing for the traffic-jam condition as oneof operations of the navigation device 100 will be described withreference to FIG. 9.

First, as shown in FIG. 9, the user operates the terminal input section130 to set a command for performing the simplified display processingfor the traffic-jam condition. Based on the set command, a requestsignal for requesting simplified display of the traffic-jam condition isgenerated. When the display controller 184 of the processor 180recognizes the request signal generated based on the set command forperforming the simplified display processing for the traffic-jamcondition (Step S101), the display controller 184 controls the terminaldisplay section 140 to display a display window for prompting the userto input various items required for the simplified display of thetraffic-jam condition such as the traffic-jam-condition recognitionregion information about the traffic-jam condition recognition regionand display setting information for requesting at least one ofsimplified display of the current traffic-jam condition (hereinafterreferred to as a current traffic-jam condition display) and simplifieddisplay of the predicted traffic-jam condition that is predicted tooccur (hereinafter referred to as a predicted traffic-jam conditiondisplay).

The processor 180 operates the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 toacquire the traffic-jam-condition recognition region information (StepS102) to acquire the display setting information (Step S103). Theprocessor 180 then operates the current position recognizer 181 torecognize the current position (Step S104). Specifically, thecurrent-position recognizer 181 calculates the current position of thevehicle based on the speed data and the azimuth data of the vehiclerespectively output from the speed sensor and the azimuth sensor of thesensor 110 and the GPS data about the current position output from theGPS receiver, and acquires the current position information. Theacquired traffic-jam-condition recognition region information, thedisplay setting information and the current position information areappropriately stored in the memory 170. Then, the processor 180 operatesthe traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 to determine whether or not thecurrent traffic-jam condition display is requested based on the displaysetting information (Step S105).

When recognizing that the current traffic-jam prediction display isrequested in Step S105, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187acquires the VICS data from the VICS receiver 120. Then, based on theacquired VICS data, the traffic-jam-condition recognition regioninformation and the current position information stored in the memory170, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 generates the currenttraffic-jam information about the current traffic-jam conditioncurrently occurring in the traffic-jam condition recognition region,namely in a region located in a predetermined distance from the currentposition (Step S106). The generated current traffic-jam information isappropriately stored in the memory 170.

Then, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 determines whether or notthe predicted traffic-jam condition display is requested based on thedisplay setting information (Step S107). In Step S107, when recognizingthat the predicted traffic-jam condition display is requested, thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 acquires the time information fromthe timer 191, the VICS data from the VICS receiver 120 and thetime-series data 12 i from the storage section 160. Then, based on theacquired various information, the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187generates the predicted traffic-jam information about the predictedtraffic-jam condition that is predicted to occur at an arbitrary spot inthe traffic-jam condition recognition region (Step S108). The generatedpredicted traffic-jam information is appropriately stored in the memory170. The processor 180 then operates the display controller 184 to setthe expressions of the traffic-jam direction icons 322 n based on thedriving direction from the sensor 110, the map information of an areacontaining the traffic-jam condition recognition region stored in thestorage section 160, and the current position information, the currenttraffic-jam information and the predicted traffic-jam information thatare stored in the memory 170 (Step S109).

On the other hand, when recognizing that the current traffic-jamprediction display is not requested in Step S105, the traffic-jamcondition recognizer 187 performs the processing of Step S107. When thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 recognizes that the predictedtraffic-jam prediction display is not requested in Step S107, theprocessor 180 operates the display controller 184 to perform theprocessing of Step S109. Here, when the processing of Step 106 and StepS108 have been performed, namely when the current traffic-jam conditiondisplay and the predicted traffic-jam condition display are requested,the display controller 184 sets the expression to one of the currenttraffic-jam expression, the predicted traffic-jam expression, thecontinuous traffic-jam expression and the non traffic-jam expressionbased on the current traffic-jam information and the predictedtraffic-jam information in Step S109. When the processing of Step 106has been performed while the processing of Step S108 has not beenperformed, namely when only the current traffic-jam condition display isrequested, the display controller 184 sets the expression to the currenttraffic-jam expression or the non traffic-jam expression based on thecurrent traffic-jam information in Step S109. When, on the other hand,the processing of Step 106 has not been performed while the processingof Step S108 has been performed, namely when only the predictedtraffic-jam condition display is requested, the display controller 184sets the expression to the predicted traffic-jam expression or thecontinuous traffic-jam expression based on the predicted traffic-jaminformation in Step S109.

Then, the display controller 184 displays the traffic-jam condition inthe display area 300 in a simplified manner (Step S110). Specifically,the display controller 184 acquires the map information of an areacontaining the current position to display it in the map informationdisplay area 310 as the current-position map information 311 as shown inFIG. 7. The display controller 184 displays the vehicle icon 312 in asuperimposing manner at a position corresponding to the current positionin the current-position map information 311 based on the currentposition information. The display controller 184 displays the vehicleicon 321 in the traffic-jam simplified display area 320 and displays thetraffic-jam direction icon 322 n in the expressions set by the displaycontroller 184, for instance, in the expressions shown in FIG. 8.

[Advantage of Navigation Device]

As described above, the processor 180 of the navigation device 100operates the current position recognizer 181 to acquire the currentposition information about the current position of the vehicle. Theprocessor 180 operates the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 togenerate the current traffic-jam information about the currenttraffic-jam condition based on the VICS data from the VICS receiver 120.The processor 180 then operates the display controller 184 to recognizethe direction indicating a point at which the traffic jam is currentlyoccurring relative to the current position based on the current positioninformation and the current traffic-jam information. Thereafter, thedisplay controller 184 displays the recognized direction with thetraffic-jam direction icon 322 n.

The navigation device 100 can display with the traffic-jam directionicon 322 n the direction of a traffic-jam zone relative to the currentposition, so that the display can be simplified as compared with aconventional arrangement in which the traffic-jam zone is indicated bydisplaying traffic-jam direction marks near a road in the mapinformation. Accordingly, the user can recognize the information aboutthe traffic jam more easily from the display that is simplified comparedwith the conventional arrangement. Therefore, the navigation device 100can display the traffic condition properly, thereby providing propernavigation.

The traffic-jam condition recognizer generates the predicted traffic-jaminformation about the predicted traffic-jam condition that is predictedto occur at an arbitrary spot based on the time-series data 12 i storedin the storage section 160. Then, the display controller 184 displaysthe traffic-jam direction icon 322 n corresponding to a directionindicating a point at which the traffic-jam is predicted to occur in thepredicted traffic-jam expression based on the predicted traffic-jaminformation. The display controller 184 displays the traffic-jamdirection icon 322 n corresponding to a direction indicating a point atwhich the traffic jam is currently occurring in the current traffic-jamexpression that is different from the predicted traffic-jam expression.With the arrangement, the expression of the traffic-jam direction icon322 n allows the user to distinguish the direction indicating the pointat which the traffic jam is currently occurring from the directionindicating the point at which the traffic jam is predicted to occur.Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display the traffic conditionmore properly.

The display controller 184 displays the traffic-jam direction icons 322n having arrow marks indicating different directions from one another.By setting the expression of the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n to thecurrent traffic-jam expression, the direction indicating the point atwhich the traffic jam is currently occurring can be displayed. With thearrangement, for instance, the user can recognize the directionindicating the point at which the traffic jam is currently occurringwith the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n that is set to the currenttraffic-jam expression and recognize the direction indicating the pointat which the traffic jam is not occurring with the traffic-jam directionicon 322 n that is not set to the current traffic-jam expression.Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display the traffic conditionmore properly.

The display controller 184 sets the display color of the expression ofthe traffic-jam direction icon 322 n in accordance with the traffic-jamcondition. With the arrangement, the user can recognize that the trafficjam is occurring at the point corresponding to the forward side in thedriving direction by, for instance, the traffic-jam direction icon 3221that is displayed in a display color different from that of thetraffic-jam direction icon 3227 corresponding to the point at which atraffic jam is not occurring. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 candisplay the traffic condition more properly.

The display controller 184 displays the current-position map information311 in the map information display area 310 of the display area 300 andthe traffic-jam direction icon 322 n in the traffic-jam simplifieddisplay area 320. With the arrangement, the user can recognizeinformation about the point containing the current position in additionto the information about the traffic jam. In addition, the user canrecognize with the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n the directionindicating the point at which the traffic-jam is currently occurringeven when the user enlarges the display until the point at which thetraffic jam is currently occurring is positioned out of the regionindicated by the current-position map information 311. Accordingly,user-friendliness of the navigation device 100 can be enhanced.

The display controller 184 acquires the driving direction informationfrom the sensor 110. Then, when recognizing that, for instance, thetraffic jam is currently occurring at the point corresponding to theforward side in the driving direction of the vehicle based on thedriving direction information and the current traffic-jam information,the display controller 184 reflects the recognized traffic jam to thetraffic-jam direction icon 3221 corresponding to the forward side in thedriving direction. Accordingly, since the user can recognize a directionindicating a point at which the traffic jam is currently occurringrelative to the driving direction, the user can recognize the directionof the traffic jam more easily as compared to the arrangement in whichthe direction of the traffic jam is displayed relative to the currentposition. Therefore, the navigation device 100 can display the trafficcondition more properly.

The traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 acquires thetraffic-jam-condition recognition region information and recognizes thata region of which the traffic-jam condition is to be recognized (i.e.traffic-jam-condition recognition region) is, for instance, in apredetermined distance from the current position. In addition, thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 generates the current traffic-jaminformation about the current traffic jam condition currently occurringin the traffic-jam condition recognition region based on the VICS data.The display controller 184 then displays the direction indicating thepoint at which the traffic jam is currently occurring with thetraffic-jam direction icon 322 n based on the current traffic-jaminformation corresponding to the traffic-jam condition recognitionregion. With the arrangement, the user recognizes information about thetraffic-jam condition for regions depending on a traveling purpose, atraveling distance or the like. Accordingly, the navigation device 100can display the traffic condition more properly.

Modification of Embodiment

The present invention is not limited to the above specific embodiment,but includes modifications as long as the object of the presentinvention can be attained.

The display controller 184 may set the expression of the traffic-jamdirection icon 322 n based only on one of the current traffic-jaminformation and the predicted traffic-jam information generated by thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187. With the arrangement, thetraffic-jam condition recognizer 187 does not need to have a functionfor generating the other one of the current traffic-jam information andthe predicted traffic-jam information. Accordingly, the traffic-jamcondition recognizer 187 can be simplified, so that the cost of thenavigation device 100 can be reduced.

Although the display controller 184 sets different expressions for thetraffic-jam direction icon 322 n corresponding to the directionindicating the point at which the traffic jam is currently occurring andthe traffic-jam direction icon 322 n corresponding to the directionindicating the point at which the traffic jam is predicted to occur, thedisplay controller 184 may alternatively set a uniform expression forthese traffic-jam direction icons 322 n. Even with the arrangement, theuser can recognize the information about the traffic jam more easilyfrom the display that is simplified compared to the conventionalarrangement. Also, since the display controller 184 does not need tohave a function for setting the expressions of traffic-jam directionicons 322 n in accordance with the traffic-jam condition, the displaycontroller 184 can be simplified. Accordingly, the cost of thenavigation device 100 can be reduced.

It may be so arranged that the display controller 184 recognizes a timeand date on which a traffic jam is predicted to occur based on thepredicted traffic-jam information and sets the expression of thetraffic-jam direction icon 322 n in accordance with the time and date.For example, a background of a traffic-jam direction icon 322 ncorresponding to a point at which a traffic jam is predicted to occur inone hour is set to red, while a background of a traffic-jam directionicon 322 n corresponding to a point at which a traffic jam is predictedto occur in two hours is set to pink. With the arrangement, the user canrecognize, from the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n, the time and dateon which the traffic-jam is predicted to occur in addition to thedirection indicating the point at which the traffic-jam is predicted tooccur. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display the trafficcondition more properly.

The traffic-jam simplified display area 320 may display variousinformation as shown in FIG. 10. Specifically, a substantially circularmap display area circumference line 323 that defines an outercircumference of a region indicated by the current-position mapinformation 311 is displayed around the vehicle icon 321 displayed inthe traffic-jam simplified display area 320 In addition, a substantiallycircular traffic-jam-condition recognition region circumference line 324that defines an outer circumference of the traffic-jam conditionrecognition region around the map display area circumference line 323.For example, when it is recognized that a traffic jam is currentlyoccurring at a point corresponding to the forward side in the drivingdirection and positioned out of the current-position map information311, a substantially ellipsoidal traffic-jam direction mark 325 of whichdisplay color is set to red for instance may be displayed in a regionpositioned between the circumference lines 323, 324 and corresponding tothe forward side in the driving direction. With the arrangement, theuser can recognize information about the traffic jam more easily frommore simplified display as compared to the above-described embodiment inwhich all the traffic-jam direction icons 322 n are constantlydisplayed. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display thetraffic condition more properly.

It may be so arranged that expressions of the various information in thetraffic-jam simplified display area 320 are set by reflectinginformation about the traffic-jam level contained in the VICS data orthe time-series data 12 i. Specifically, when it is recognized that thatthe traffic-jam level is “heavy traffic” which is lower than“traffic-jammed” based on the current traffic-jam information, thedisplay color of the traffic-jam direction mark 325 is set to red asshown in FIG. 10. When it is recognized the traffic-jam level is“traffic-jammed”, the display color of the traffic-jam direction mark325 is set to dark red which is darker than the display color of thetraffic-jam direction mark 325 for “heavy traffic” as shown in FIG. 11.Note that although the expressions may be set using color densities ofthe display color that depends on the traffic-jam level in the exampleabove, the arrangement is not limited thereto. For example, theexpressions may be set using blinking speeds of the traffic-jamdirection mark 325. Similarly, the expression of the traffic-jamdirection icon 322 n of the above-described embodiment may also be setby reflecting the traffic-jam level. With the arrangement, the user canrecognize the traffic-jam level by the display in the traffic-jamsimplified display area 320 in addition to the direction indicating thepoint at which the traffic-jam is occurring. Accordingly, the navigationdevice 100 can display the traffic condition more properly.

The display controller 184 may display only the traffic-jam directionicon 322 n corresponding to the point at which the traffic jam iscurrently occurring and the point at which the traffic jam is predictedto occur. With the arrangement, the user can recognize information aboutthe traffic jam more easily from more simplified display compared to theabove-described embodiment in which the traffic-jam direction icons 322n are displayed regardless of the traffic-jam condition. Accordingly,the navigation device 100 can display the traffic condition moreproperly.

The display controller 184 may set a display size of the traffic-jamdirection icon 322 n in accordance with the traffic-jam condition, e.g.,whether or not the traffic jam is occurring and the traffic jam level.With the arrangement, the user can recognize the information about thetraffic jam more easily from the display size that is moredistinguishable than the display color. Accordingly, the navigationdevice 100 can display the traffic condition more properly.

The display area 300 may not display the current-position mapinformation 311. With the arrangement, the size of the traffic-jamsimplified display area 320 can be increased, so that the navigationdevice 100 can display the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n with alarger size. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can allow the userto recognize the information about the traffic jam more easily ascompared to the above-described embodiment, thereby displaying thetraffic condition more properly.

The traffic-jam simplified display area 320 may not be provided in thedisplay area 300. Instead, for instance, the traffic-jam direction mark325 as shown in FIG. 10 may be displayed at a position corresponding tothe direction indicating the point at which the traffic jam is currentlyoccurring in a region shown by the current-position map information 311.With the arrangement, the user can recognize the direction indicatingthe point at which the traffic jam is currently occurring in accordancewith the region shown by the current-position map information 311.Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display the traffic conditionmore properly.

The display area 300 may not display the traffic-jam simplified displayarea 320. Instead, various information as shown in FIG. 12 may bedisplayed. Specifically, traffic-jam direction display areas 3301, 3302,3303, 3304 as direction data having substantially long rectangularshapes are provided respectively along an upper side, a right side, alower side and a left side of the display area 300. Then, whenrecognizing that, for instance, a traffic jam is predicted to occur at apoint corresponding to the leftward side in the driving direction, thedisplay controller 184 sets the display color of the traffic-jamdirection display area 3304 to yellow. With the arrangement, the usercan recognize the direction indicating the point at which the trafficjam is currently occurring based on the region shown by thecurrent-position map information 311. In addition, the traffic-jamdirection display area 330 t is larger and simpler than the traffic-jamdirection icon 322 n, so that the traffic-jam condition can berecognized more easily. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 candisplay the traffic condition more properly. The traffic-jam directiondisplay area 330 t is provided on a circumferential portion of thedisplay area 300. With the arrangement, the current-position mapinformation 311 can be displayed more properly as compared to theabove-described embodiment in which the traffic-jam simplified displayarea 320 is provided in a plane of the map information display area 310.In addition, by arranging such that the traffic-jam direction displayarea 300 t corresponding to a point at which a traffic jam is notcurrently occurring or a point at which a traffic jam is not predictedto occur is not displayed, the user can recognize the information aboutthe traffic jam more easily from simplified display.

In the arrangement in which the traffic-jam direction display areas 330t as shown in FIG. 12 are provided in the display area 300, expressionsof the traffic-jam direction display area 330 t may be set as shown inFIG. 13. Specifically, for example, when it is recognized that a pointpositioned on the leftward side relative to a road R1 of thecurrent-position map information 311 is a point at which the traffic jamis predicted to occur, an expression of an area 3304A that is continuedto the road R1 in the traffic-jam direction display area 3304 is set toyellow. When, for example, it is recognized that a road that iscontinued to a road R2 currently has a traffic jam, an expression of anarea 3304B that is continued to the road R2 in the traffic-jam directiondisplay area 3304 is set to red. With the arrangement, the user canrecognize to which road in the current-position map information 311 theroad currently having the traffic jam is continued. Accordingly, thenavigation device 100 can display the traffic condition more properly.

The traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 may not be provided with afunction for acquiring the traffic-jam-condition recognition regioninformation to recognize the traffic-jam condition recognition region,but may generate the predicted traffic-jam information about a presetregion that is in a predetermined distance from the current position.With the arrangement, the user does not have to input thetraffic-jam-condition recognition region information every time thesimplified display processing for the traffic-jam condition isperformed. Accordingly, the user-friendliness of the navigation device100 can be enhanced.

Although the arrangement in which the display controller 184 has afunction for recognizing the direction indicating the point at which thetraffic jam is currently occurring relative to the driving direction ofthe vehicle based on the driving direction information from the sensor110 is exemplified, the display controller 184 may not have suchfunction. By omitting such function, the display controller 184 can besimplified. Accordingly, the cost of the navigation device 100 can bereduced. In addition, the display controller 184 can only recognize thedirection indicating the point at which the traffic jam is currentlyoccurring relative to the current position, setting of the expression ofthe traffic-jam direction icon 322 n becomes less time-consuming,thereby displaying the traffic condition more quickly.

It may be so arranged that the destination recognizer 182 functions asthe destination information acquirer of the present invention and theroute processor 188 functions as the map information acquirer and thetravel route setting section of the present invention so that thedestination recognizer 182 and the route processor 188 performprocessing as described below. Specifically, the display controller 184acquires the travel route information containing the travel routegenerated by the route processor 188. The display controller 184 furtherrecognizes the point at which the traffic jam is predicted to occur inthe travel route of the candidate travel route information based on thepredicted traffic-jam information. Then, the direction indicating thepoint at which the traffic jam is predicted to occur relative to thedriving direction is displayed with the traffic-jam direction icon 322n. With the arrangement, the user can recognize that the point at whichthe traffic jam is predicted to occur is contained in the travel routeset by the navigation device 100. Accordingly, the navigation device 100can display the traffic condition more properly.

In the arrangement in which the direction indicating the point at whichthe traffic jam is predicted to occur in the travel route is displayed,the travel route and the map information containing the travel route maybe displayed in, for instance, the map information display area 310.With the arrangement, the user can recognize information about the pointnear the travel route in addition to the information about the trafficjam in the travel route. Accordingly, user-friendliness of thenavigation device 100 can be enhanced.

It may be so arranged that the display controller 184 functions as adirection selecting signal acquirer of the present invention so that thedisplay controller 184 performs processing as described below.Specifically, the display controller 184 displays a selection commandicon (not shown) that is movable in the display area 300 in response tothe input operation at the terminal input section 130. When recognizingthat a direction selecting signal for selecting any one of thetraffic-jam direction icons 322 n is input, the display controller 184displays detailed information of a traffic jam at a point correspondingto the direction of the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n selected by thedirection selecting signal in the map information display area 310 or inthe traffic-jam simplified display area 320. Here, the detailedinformation of the traffic jam may include a head position of thetraffic jam and the length of the traffic jam, but the arrangement isnot limited thereto. With the arrangement, the user can properlyrecognize the detailed information of the traffic jam at the point atwhich the traffic jam is currently occurring or predicted to occur.Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can display the traffic conditionmore properly.

It may be so arranged that the display controller 184 functions as thedirection selecting signal acquirer and a particular-condition-point mapinformation acquirer of the present invention so that the displaycontroller 184 performs processing as described below. Specifically, thedisplay controller 184 acquires map information near a pointcorresponding to the direction of the traffic-jam direction icon 322 nselected by the direction selecting signal to display the acquired mapinformation as the particular-condition-point map information in the mapinformation display area 310 or in the traffic-jam simplified displayarea 320. With the arrangement, the user can properly recognize thepoint at which the traffic jam is currently occurring or predicted tooccur from the particular-condition-point map information. Accordingly,the navigation device 100 can display the traffic condition moreproperly.

While the functions described above are realized in the form of programsin the above description, the functions may be realized in any formincluding hardware such as a circuit board or elements such as IC(Integrated Circuit). In view of easy handling and promotion of the use,the functions are preferably stored and read from programs or storagemedia.

The specific structures and the operating procedures for the presentinvention may be appropriately modified as long as the object of thepresent invention can be achieved.

Advantage of Embodiment

As described above, the processor 180 of the navigation device 100operates the current position recognizer 181 to acquire the currentposition information about the current position of the vehicle. Theprocessor 180 then operates the traffic-jam condition recognizer 187 togenerate the current traffic-jam information about the currenttraffic-jam condition based on the VICS data from the VICS receiver 120.The processor 180 then operates the display controller 184 to displaywith the traffic-jam direction icon 322 n the direction indicating thepoint at which the traffic jam is currently occurring relative to thecurrent position based on the current position information and thecurrent traffic-jam information.

The navigation device 100 can display with the traffic-jam directionicon 322 n the direction of a traffic-jam zone relative to the drivingdirection of the vehicle, so that the display can be simplified ascompared with a conventional arrangement in which the traffic-jam zoneis indicated by displaying traffic-jam direction marks near a road inthe map information. Accordingly, the navigation device 100 can displaythe traffic condition more properly.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The present invention is applicable to a traffic-condition displaydevice for displaying map information on a display unit in accordancewith travel of a mobile body, its method, its program, and a recordingmedium storing the program.

1. A traffic-condition display device, comprising: a current positioninformation acquirer for acquiring current position information about acurrent position of a mobile body; a traffic information acquirer foracquiring traffic information about a traffic condition; aparticular-condition-point direction recognizer for recognizing adirection indicating a point in a particular traffic condition relativeto the current position; and a display controller for displaying pluralpieces of direction data indicating directions different from oneanother on a display unit, the display controller displaying one of theplural pieces of direction data corresponding to the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition in a formatdifferent from formats of the other pieces of direction data andcorresponding to a time and date at which the particular trafficcondition arises.
 2. The traffic-condition display device according toclaim 1, wherein the content of the particular traffic condition is atraffic density.
 3. The traffic-condition display device according toclaim 1, wherein the format is at least one of brightness, color phaseand intensity.
 4. The traffic-condition display device according toclaim 1, wherein the format is a display size.
 5. The traffic-conditiondisplay device according to claim 1, wherein the format is at least oneof brightness, color phase and intensity.
 6. The traffic-conditiondisplay device according to claim 1, wherein the format is a displaysize.
 7. The traffic-condition display device according to claim 1,further comprising: a current-position map information acquirer foracquiring current-position map information about an area containing thecurrent position, wherein the display controller performs control todisplay the direction indicating the point in the particular trafficcondition relative to the current position and the current-position mapinformation in a display area of the display unit.
 8. Thetraffic-condition display device according to claim 7, wherein thedisplay controller performs control to display the direction indicatingthe point in the particular traffic condition relative to the currentposition at a position corresponding to the direction indicating thepoint in the particular traffic condition relative to the currentposition in the area of the current-position map information.
 9. Thetraffic-condition display device according to claim 8, wherein thedisplay controller performs control to display the direction indicatingthe point in the particular traffic condition relative to the currentposition on a circumference of the display area.
 10. Thetraffic-condition display device according to claim 1, wherein theparticular-condition-point direction recognizer recognizes the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition relative to thecurrent position in a predetermined area.
 11. The traffic-conditiondisplay device according to claim 1, further comprising: a traveldirection recognizer for recognizing a travel direction of the mobilebody from the current position, wherein the particular-condition-pointdirection recognizer recognizes the direction indicating the point inthe particular traffic condition relative to the travel direction fromthe current position, and the display controller performs control todisplay the direction indicating the point in the particular trafficcondition relative to the travel direction on the display unit.
 12. Thetraffic-condition display device according to claim 11, furthercomprising: a destination information acquirer for acquiring destinationinformation about a position of a destination to which the mobile bodytravels; a map information acquirer for acquiring map information; and atravel route setting section for setting a travel route from the currentposition to the destination based on the current position information,the destination information and the map information, wherein the displaycontroller performs control to display the direction indicating thepoint in the particular traffic condition relative to the traveldirection in the travel route.
 13. The traffic-condition display deviceaccording to claim 12, wherein the display controller performs controlto display the map information and the travel route on the display unit.14. The traffic-condition display device according claim 1, furthercomprising: an area-specifying signal acquirer for acquiring anarea-specifying signal in accordance with input operation for setting acommand to recognize the direction indicating the point in theparticular traffic condition relative to the current position in aspecified area, and the particular-condition-point direction recognizerrecognizes the direction indicating the point in the particular trafficcondition relative to the current position in the particular areacontained in the area-specifying signal.
 15. The traffic-conditiondevice according to claim 1, further comprising: a direction selectingsignal acquirer for acquiring a direction selecting signal in accordancewith input operation for setting a command to select display of thedirection indicating the point in the particular traffic conditionrelative to the current position which is displayed on the display unit,wherein the display controller performs control to display on thedisplay unit the content of the particular traffic condition of thepoint that is indicated by the direction selected by the directionselecting signal.
 16. The traffic-condition device according to claim 1,further comprising: a direction selecting signal acquirer for acquiringa direction selecting signal in accordance with input operation forsetting a command to select display of the direction indicating thepoint in the particular traffic condition relative to the currentposition which is displayed on the display unit; and aparticular-condition-point map information acquirer for acquiringparticular-condition-point map information about an area containing thepoint that is indicated by the direction selected by the directionselecting signal, wherein the display controller performs control todisplay the particular-condition-point map information on the displayunit.
 17. A traffic-condition display method that is performed by acomputing unit for displaying a traffic condition on a display unit, themethod comprising: acquiring current position information about acurrent position of a mobile body; acquiring traffic information about atraffic condition; recognizing a direction indicating a point in aparticular traffic condition relative to the current position; anddisplaying plural pieces of direction data indicating directionsdifferent from one another on the display unit, one of the plural piecesof direction data corresponding to the direction indicating the point inthe particular traffic condition being displayed in a format differentfrom formats of the other pieces of direction data and corresponding toa time and date at which the particular traffic condition arises.
 18. Atraffic-condition display program for operating a computing unit as atraffic-condition display device, the program stored in a recordingmedium in a manner readable by the computing unit, wherein thetraffic-condition display device includes: a current positioninformation acquirer for acquiring current position information about acurrent position of a mobile body; a traffic information acquirer foracquiring traffic information about a traffic condition; aparticular-condition-point direction recognizer for recognizing adirection indicating a point in a particular traffic condition relativeto the current position; and a display controller for displaying pluralpieces of direction data indicating directions different from oneanother on a display unit, the display controller displaying one of theplural pieces of direction data corresponding to the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition in a formatdifferent from formats of the other pieces of direction data andcorresponding to a time and date at which the particular trafficcondition arises.
 19. A traffic-condition display program for operatinga computing unit to execute a traffic-condition display method fordisplaying a traffic condition on a display unit, the program stored ina recording medium in a manner readable by the computing unit, whereinthe traffic-condition display method includes: acquiring currentposition information about a current position of a mobile body;acquiring traffic information about a traffic condition; recognizing adirection indicating a point in a particular traffic condition relativeto the current position; and displaying plural pieces of direction dataindicating directions different from one another on the display unit,one of the plural pieces of direction data corresponding to thedirection indicating the point in the particular traffic condition beingdisplayed in a format different from formats of the other pieces ofdirection data and corresponding to a time and date at which theparticular traffic condition arises.
 20. A recording medium that storesa traffic-condition display program for operating a computing unit as atraffic-condition display device in a manner readable by the computingunit, wherein the traffic-condition display device includes: a currentposition information acquirer for acquiring current position informationabout a current position of a mobile body; a traffic informationacquirer for acquiring traffic information about a traffic condition; aparticular-condition-point direction recognizer for recognizing adirection indicating a point in a particular traffic condition relativeto the current position; and a display controller for displaying pluralpieces of direction data indicating directions different from oneanother on a display unit, the display controller displaying one of theplural pieces of direction data corresponding to the directionindicating the point in the particular traffic condition in a formatdifferent from formats of the other pieces of direction data andcorresponding to a time and date at which the particular trafficcondition arises.
 21. A recording medium that stores a traffic-conditiondisplay program for operating a computing unit to execute atraffic-condition display method for displaying a traffic condition on adisplay unit in a manner readable by the computing unit, wherein thetraffic-condition display method includes: acquiring current positioninformation about a current position of a mobile body; acquiring trafficinformation about a traffic condition; recognizing a directionindicating a point in a particular traffic condition relative to thecurrent position; and displaying plural pieces of direction dataindicating directions different from one another on the display unit,one of the plural pieces of direction data corresponding to thedirection indicating the point in the particular traffic condition beingdisplayed in a format different from formats of the other pieces ofdirection data and corresponding to a time and date at which theparticular traffic condition arises.